Global Engagement Summary

For 100 years, Boeing has been innovating to meet the needs of an ever-changing, fast-paced, worldwide environment. Our understanding of how to best connect and support people, businesses and communities allows us to operate and create value in, and for, almost every region of the world.

Creating shared value is what we do every day. We welcome you to experience Boeing.

FEATURE STORIES

“Women Make Us Better”: A tribute to women's importance in STEM careers

For this year's International Women in Engineering Day, Boeing highlights the need for more women to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers by reflecting on the challenges women have historically faced seeking higher education in these areas and promoting paths to success for the next generation of female innovators.

“Over the past five years, Boeing and the Boeing Charitable Trust have contributed more than $85 million towards community initiatives that have inspired an estimated 3.6 million young women in STEM globally,” said John Blazey, vice president of Global Corporate Citizenship.

The #WomenMakeUsBetter video features Boeing engineers reading and reacting to the college rejection letters women received in the early years of the 20th century. While we’ve come a long way since that time, we believe there is still much more to be done to increase the number of women in engineering.

Women have performed an important role in Boeing’s history, beginning in 1916 when seamstress Rosie Farrar was hired by William Boeing to stitch together linen wings for the early B&W seaplanes. Since then, Boeing has worked to diversify its workforce and is committed to making continuing inroads in this space, company officials said.

Boeing women engineers from across the company gathered to participate in the awareness campaign.

Boeing is also working to increase the focus on and number of community investments designed to educate and inspire the next generation of women scientists and engineers.

Teaming up and taking off to take down cancer

Boeing, American Cancer Society partnership raises funds for research, education programs, advocacy efforts and patient services across the U.S.

In the spring of 2017, Boeing employees participated in an employee drive in support of the American Cancer Society.

Collectively, employees raised more than half a million dollars as part of the drive, money that will be used to fund cancer prevention research, education programs, advocacy efforts and patient services throughout the United States.

“A cancer diagnosis is one of the most feared medical diagnoses and unfortunately hits close to home for so many of us,” said Tim Keating, senior vice president of Government Operations. “I am so proud of our Boeing teammates and the overwhelming outpouring of support from sites across the country.

"We worked together as ‘One Boeing’ to accomplish a very lofty goal," Keating added, "and now our collective contributions have the ability to help improve the lives millions of cancer patients and survivors who continue to struggle with this terrible disease.”

Employees from Boeing Long Bridge gather in support of the Boeing-ACS employee drive. Along with taking part in volunteer activities, employees helped raise more than half a million dollars to fund cancer prevention research, education programs, advocacy efforts and patient services. Click to view larger.

Getting to Mars

It's quite possible the first human to visit Mars could be learning the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic this very moment.

Looking toward to the next 100 years, Boeing supports and partners with thought-leading organizations such as Above and Beyond, FIRST, Iridescent, MIND Institute, Ounce of Prevention Fund, PBS Learning Media and Teaching Channel, to ignite their interest in science, technology and engineering. Nearly 20,000 students and families have utilized the resources at various events worldwide.

“Boeing’s commitment and partnership has helped us build a strategy for continued growth,” CEO, Iridescent

“Boeing’s commitment and partnership has helped us build a strategy for continued growth—this level of high-impact collaboration from a corporate philanthropy is really rate,” said Tara Chklovski, founder and CEO, Iridescent, “We were able to train more than 125 parents and educators to reach nearly 1000 students and families in-person and online.”

Boeing, along with select partners, co-created a set of free, downloadable educational resources that will be available into 2017. By better supporting teachers and parents with the tools they need for problem-based learning and design thinking in the classroom, it is our hope that we will better prepare students to innovate for the future.

A Boeing Engineer helps young students with engineering challenges to inspire skills development.

Enduring Commitment to Veterans

Getting Veterans Back to Work Program “Grabs Your Hand and Helps You Figure Things Out”

Burned out and exhausted from his military tour, Joseph Girvan lacked focus and direction when he came home. But most importantly, he lacked a job. The former U.S. Army veteran eventually became homeless and hopeless-- until a trusted friend recommended Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona’s Getting Veterans Back to Work program.

“The Getting Veterans Back to Work program helped me understand what I was capable of and what skills sets I had that fit into the civilian world,” Girvan said. “The classes, the mentoring and the training all helped me make the transition and opened the right doors for me.”

The Getting Veterans Back to Work program helped me understand what I was capable of and what skills sets I had that fit into the civilian world...

Girvan went back to school and earned his degree in IT. Then Goodwill placed him in a job as an IT Program Manager at Banner Health Systems, an Arizona-based group of medical centers. He’s been at the job more than two years, defying the national statistics that recently returning veterans last an average of nine months in a job.

Veteran Joseph Girvan stops by one of Goodwill’s Job Centers in Phoenix that is part of the Getting Veterans Back to Work program Boeing is supporting.

“I am grateful for Boeing’s support of this program,” Girvan said. “And appreciative that Boeing has a strong focus on giving grants to programs across the nation that help veterans find meaningful employment.”

Boeing Global Engagement has been supporting Goodwill’s Getting Veterans Back to Work program in Arizona since 2016.

Goodwill partners with hundreds of employers and connects them with qualified veteran candidates for placement. The agency conducts skill appraisals, career planning, job training and placement for veterans.

“The biggest challenge veterans face making the transition to civilian life is asking for help, but this program grabs your hand and helps you figure things out,” Girvan said.

SNAPSHOTS

Through a grant to The Mission Continues, Boeing supports 90 fellowships for veterans returning to civilian life that will establish them as future service leaders. Boeing also maintains 12 nationwide chapters of BEVA.

Having a focus on inclusion, communities, business partners, better lives for Veterans and educating the next generation of engineers and problem-solvers is critical to advancing society as well as the field of aerospace.

Working with South African Airways (SAA), Boeing is turning “energy tobacco” into sustainable aviation biofuel with farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo province who are harvesting a crop of nicotine-free, energy-rich tobacco plant.

Boeing has supported nearly 1,500 FIRST teams with grants and employee mentors since 2008. In 2016 alone, more than 500 Boeing employees mentored more than 10,000 students across 22 states. Watch Video

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Boeing's global network of employees and suppliers provides unparalleled opportunities to meet the needs of our industry, customers and communities.

FEATURE STORIES

Boeing Goes Big on Community Investments

Boeing has announced more than $50 million in grants to more than 500 nonprofit organizations across 50 countries globally.

The annual contributions include a three-year commitment of more than $25 million in support of veterans' recovery and rehabilitation programs and transition services. The charitable grants package will fund programs through 2018 and supplement an anticipated $117 million in company-wide business and employee contributions to similar causes—bringing Boeing's total community investments to approximately $167 million this year alone.

"We aspire to be a top performer in every area of our business, and that includes leading in the communities where our employees and their families live and work," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive officer. "By harnessing our teammates' unique skills and passion for giving, our professional networks and partnerships, and our financial resources, we will inspire the dreamers and doers of tomorrow and drive positive, lasting change in our communities across the globe."

Anchored by local and regional employee-engagement activities, Boeing charitable grants are geared toward developing tomorrow's innovators through investment in the skills required in today's modern workplace, and supporting military veterans and their families transitioning into the civilian workforce. At a local level, Boeing investments address unique challenges and issues that are critical to those communities where our company operates.

Boeing grants by the numbers.

Let the Warrior Games Begin!

As the co-presenting sponsor of the 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games, Boeing was proud to support more than 300 service members and veterans with physical injuries; traumatic brain injuries; visual impairment; serious illness; and post-traumatic stress compete in eight Olympic-style sports including cycling, track and field, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

As part of the sponsorship, Boeing announced a $1 million donation to benefit six nonprofit organizations providing rehabilitation and well-being services for veteran and civilian groups, globally.

“The competitors who made it to the Warrior Games are not only distinguished athletes but true heroes who have defended freedom around the world,” said Boeing Director of Veterans Outreach and Medal of Honor recipient Flo Groberg. “Their courage, sacrifice and unwavering pride in their service to country are powerful motivators for us here at Boeing.”

Funds from the contribution were raised as part of the company's Boeing Moves the World employee well-being initiative. More than 60,000 Boeing employees came together around the globe to support mobility programs for those in need.

This year’s games marked the first time competitive events were held entirely outside a military installation or U.S. Olympic Committee facility since the games’ inception back in 2010. Competition included teams from all U.S. military branches as well as the UK Armed Forces and Australian Defence Force.

Team Army, last year’s Warrior Games medal count winner, enters the opening ceremonies for the 2017 Games at Soldier Field in downtown Chicago, IL..

Teaming in Brazil to Develop Aerospace Technologies

The new Boeing Research & Technology–Brazil (BR&T-Brazil) center is focused on sustainable aviation biofuel development, advanced air traffic management, remote sensing, advanced metals and bio-materials, and support and services technologies.

The center is located in the São José dos Campos Technology Park.

“As part of Boeing’s long-term commitment to Brazil, Boeing Research & Technology–Brazil will focus on collaborative R&D that will benefit Brazilian companies and the people of Brazil, while supporting Boeing’s technology development goals,” Donna Hrinak, president of Boeing Brazil and Boeing Latin America.

The new facility is Boeing’s sixth advanced research center outside of the United States, joining centers in Europe, Australia, India, China and Russia.

The center’s staff will initially conduct and coordinate ongoing projects with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and University of São Paulo (USP), companies such as Embraer and Brazil’s Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA) and National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

The joint biofuels research effort in Brazil announced by Boeing and Embraer also will include further work with GOL, a Brazilian airline.

Winning FIRST experience inspires engineers to inspire students

Every year, starting in January, FIRST Robotics teams are presented with a new game challenge.

Under strict rules, limited resources, and an intense six-week time limit, teams of 20 or more students are required to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get.

Mentoring for this program is such a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the future generations of scientists, engineers. It is great to see where they start and where they eventually go.

“I learned so much throughout the mentoring process,” said Boeing employee and FIRST mentor, Jonathan Muckey. “Mentoring for this program is such a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the future generations of scientists, engineers. It is great to see where they start and where they eventually go.”

Each FIRST robotics team is supported by a group of volunteer mentors like Muckey, who help guide the students and bring engineering concepts to life. In 2016, over 500 Boeing employees mentored more than 10,000 students in FIRST teams.

FIRST Team 330 – The Beach Bots – is a Hermosa Beach, California based robotics team supported by a group of Boeing mentors and funded through a series of Boeing grants that help cover the cost of the team's registration fee and part kits.

“As a Boeing employee and FIRST mentor, I can attest to the impact this program has on young people,” said Muckey. “The FIRST robotics program teaches students the important lessons of leadership, teamwork and innovation – attributes that will help them both in competition and in their future careers.”

SNAPSHOTS

In 2016, Boeing honored 16 suppliers who focus on quality, delivery, support and affordability.

In June 2015, Boeing opened a new, 80,000-square-foot (7,400-square-meter) research and technology center in Alabama devoted to the creation and development of analytics and simulation technologies.

Through a partnership between Boeing and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, more than 250 advanced apprentices a year will receive training while delivering real-world industry solutions at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Around the world, Boeing is developing partnerships that benefit its customers and business partners as well as local economies. Watch Video

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Boeing is innovating by delivering advanced technologies and constantly re-examining our capabilities and processes to ensure that our company is as strong and vital as our heritage.

FEATURE STORIES

Airplane Technology and Emissions

Boeing is committed to making the world’s best-performing and most-efficient airplanes while working with industry stakeholders to reduce aviation’s environmental footprint.

Increasing the efficiency of our products starts with good design. We strive to use lightweight materials such as composites, which make up half of the 787 Dreamliner’s primary structure, including the fuselage and wings.

The revolutionary 787 Dreamliner family improves fuel use 20 to 25 percent compared with the airplanes it replaces. In addition to composites, the efficiencies are due to new engines, better systems applications and modern aerodynamics. The 787 family has saved airlines more than 14 billion pounds (6.4 billion kilograms) of fuel since it was introduced in 2011.

Technologies on the 787 also ensure that no sound louder than 85 decibels—about the level of loud traffic heard from the side of the road—leaves airport boundaries.

The 737 MAX reduces fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent compared with the original Next-Generation 737 and has a 40 percent smaller noise footprint than today’s single-aisle airplanes.

The 777X will be the world’s largest and most efficient twin-engine jet. With 12 percent lower fuel consumption than competitor airplanes, the 777X will have the world’s largest composite wing, aerodynamic improvements and a highly efficient GE9X engine.

The 787-10, the largest of the Dreamliner family, rolled out in February 2017 and made its first flight on March 31. (Boeing photo)

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Boeing is an industry leader in fostering sustainable aviation fuel development around the world. Biofuel represents a significant, untapped opportunity to reduce aviation emissions, meet the industry’s environmental goals and support long-term sustainable growth.

A variety of source materials are used to produce biofuels. These feedstocks include waste cooking oil and animal fat, farm and forest residuals, purpose-grown sustainable crops, and waste gases from industrial facilities. Scientific studies have shown that biofuels reduce life cycle emissions by up to 80 percent compared with fossil fuel. Biofuels have also been shown to perform as well as or better than petroleum jet fuel while cutting sulfur emissions, soot and particulates.

Boeing works closely with airlines, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, governments and other stakeholders on six continents to advance biofuel development. All of these efforts adhere to principles established by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, which address sustainability’s three pillars: social, environmental and economic performance.

Since 2009, the international standards body ASTM has approved five production methods, or pathways, for fuels that are “drop-in” substitutes for petroleum fuels and require no modification to airplanes or engines. Since approval of the first fuel pathway in 2011, airlines have flown more than 5,000 commercial flights worldwide powered by a blend of biofuel and traditional fuel.

These virtually nicotine-free tobacco plants grown by farmers in South Africa served as feedstock for Africas first flights powered by a blend of sustainable aviation fuel in 2016. (Boeing photo)

Energy Conservation & Emissions

Boeing takes a life cycle approach to our environmental footprint, which means we look at more than the effects of our products on the planet.

We also carefully review how our products are manufactured and the effects of our operations. Reducing factory and facility emissions is a core part of our strategy and focus of innovation.

For the past 60 years, Boeing’s wholly owned subsidiary Spectrolab Inc. has led the industry in solar-cell technology for both space- and Earth-based applications. Spectrolab is the largest continuously operating solar company in the world and the leading manufacturer of space-qualified multi-junction solar cells and panels.

Boeing’s new Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system, now operating in Port Hueneme, California, is demonstrating the sustainable value of using solar power to generate hydrogen gas from seawater. It then stores the hydrogen until it releases the gas into a fuel cell stack to produce electricity, heat and water.

These marketplace solutions are hard at work at Boeing facilities, too. On-site solar systems provide energy at Boeing plants in North Charleston, South Carolina, and Salt Lake City, Utah; and Boeing is a major purchaser of green power at several of its other facilities.

Employees inspect and clean space solar panels at Spectrolab, a wholly owned Boeing subsidiary in Sylmar, California. Spectrolabs solar panels have provided clean electric power to more than 600 satellites and the International Space Station. (Boeing photo)

Solid Waste

Today’s major manufacturers can be measured by their commitment to optimal management and reduction of solid waste produced by their operations. Boeing is no exception.

Our goal is to stay at or below 2012 levels of waste sent to landfills while continuing to grow our company. In fact, even with revenues up more than 15 percent since 2012, we have reduced our absolute waste to landfills by nearly 19 percent.

The Boeing strategy places priority on reducing the use of resources by designing processes to minimize or reuse materials. When that is not possible, we seek to recycle or compost those materials, or use them as an energy source.

Boeing’s Enhanced Recycling program is an example of that strategy in action. It is now being used in locations that, added together, house more than 45 percent of our workforce.

As we use more carbon fiber to develop lighter aircraft and reduce product emissions, we are finding ways to reduce excess material creation. We are calibrating our production processes to use less material. We’re exploring and implementing ways to reuse or recycle the remaining material.

Boeing is also reducing materials through additive manufacturing. This is a process of creating an object by adding material, usually layer upon layer (like 3D printing), whereas subtractive manufacturing methodologies cut material away, resulting in greater waste.

Employees at Boeings South Carolina site use a one-for-one exchange program, which allows them to swap one consumable item, like batteries, headlamps or safety glasses, for a new one. The initiative has reduced consumption of consumables by
50 percent at the site. (Boeing photo)

SNAPSHOTS

We have active biofuel development projects on six continents, including in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Brazil, southern Africa, and Australia.

From airplanes to GPS and the classroom to space exploration, Boeing is a part of history and modern life. View defining moments from the company’s history via one of the largest archives of its kind including relics, documents, photos and film.

The first test flight of NASA’s Space Launch System in 2017 will lead to critical heavy-lift launch capability that will enable human exploration beyond Earth orbit.

Bringing innovations from its airplane assembly lines to GPS production, Boeing is helping to make GPS service available wherever, whenever it is needed. Watch Video

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Boeing is a global, principled organization with core strengths in innovation, productivity and disciplined execution. Guided by integrity, our strong operational performance allows us to succeed in our business and for our stakeholders.

FEATURE STORIES

Safety First: Going for Zero

Thanks to a new tool, climbing on the exterior sections of a 747 fuselage in the Everett, Wash., factory is not only easier but safer for John Hopp and other mechanics.

“Each of us has a role in creating a safer workplace,” Hopp said. “My teammates are watching out for my safety, and I’m doing the same thing for them.”

The new 747 fuselage tool is but one example of workplace safety improvements and changing attitudes about safety across Boeing since last year’s launch of Go for Zero — One Day at a Time. The companywide safety-enhancement effort aims to eliminate workplace injuries.

Leaders say the effort helped drive down employee injuries that led to missed work to a record low in 2013. Now we are significantly raising the goal and aiming to reduce injuries 25 percent every year.

Boeing Fabrication’s Bobby McDonald (from left), Melanie Faulkner, Tony Hamilton and Jennifer Cameron are part of a team that conducts “listening tours” among shop-floor workers at the Frederickson and Auburn, Wash., factories to gather direct input on safety issues.

More for Less

Inside the fuselage of a 737-900ER (Extended Range) on the Renton, Wash., assembly line, Boeing technical designer James Pounds watched as a mechanic prepared to make the first installation of a redesigned part for the airplane’s ventilation system.

He was part of an initial brainstorming group that began as an effort by the 737 Environmental Control Systems team to find a way to reduce cost and weight on the best-selling airplane. Working with longtime supplier PECO Astronics of Portland, Ore., which makes the 737 Environmental Control Systems, a Boeing team came up with an out-of-the-box solution. What had been a three-nozzle air distribution system on the 737 will be changed to one with only two nozzles.

The result?

Boeing expects an eventual savings of about $4 million a year, along with a weight reduction of 26 pounds (12 kilograms) per airplane when the second phase of the project installs in 2015.

The supply chain accounts for about two-thirds the cost of Boeing products and services, so suppliers must be as vigilant as Boeing in looking for ways to reduce costs and streamline their operations, he and other Boeing leaders say.

Boeing is implementing a lighter, simpler air distribution system in the 737 cabin.

Adding Up Gains Savings

An easy-to-use calculator now ensures a precise amount of material is ordered to manufacture a Boeing part.

Before the calculator was part of the process for ordering raw material, a full sheet of composite material would be designated for an aircraft part that might only require a fraction of that amount.

“The former process would include leftover material and created unneeded inventory,” said Greg Moser, manufacturing engineer. Ordering the right amount of material is a critical step in reducing waste and cutting costs.

“What we do is reflect what’s consumed in the building of the part, not the finished product,” said Brett Price, a manufacturing engineer who designed the calculator. “The calculator helps engineers order the right amount of material.”

Moser estimates in the past two years the calculator has helped Boeing’s South Carolina site reduce the amount of composite material ordered by 37 percent, or 44,000 pounds (20,000 kilograms), adding up to $1.1 million in avoided costs.

Brett Price inspects cuttings to a section of foam.

To help create this more efficient process, Moser and his teammates turned to the calculator, a best practice first developed at the interior parts fabrication facility in Everett, Wash.

Increasing Quality and Time Efficiency

Many of Phantom Works' Immersive Development (ImDev) capabilities are being applied to different programs across the Boeing enterprise.

Travis Durand, director of Engineering for Boeing Military Aircraft, utilized capabilities such as 3-D printing when he was chief engineer on the F-15 program.

“This was a complete redesign from the ground up,” he said. “Every single part was redesigned, put into 3-D models, and integrated with the use of these tools.”

The result was a lot of savings not only in terms of shop hours coming off the assembly time but also in terms of the whole back office, including the supply chain.

The team says it spent fewer hours and had better-quality products all the way with the use of this environment and these tools.

“ImDev shortens product development cycle time and therefore shortens the cost of product development, and we do that by pulling together all the stakeholders early,” Dan Seal, ImDev program manager said. “When you do that, you get first-time quality, reduced cycle time and reduced cost. It’s an important step in our efforts to break the development cost curve.”

A team analyzes a model in the Mission Systems lab.

SNAPSHOTS

Boeing will nearly triple its footprint near Charleston International Airport with a new 230,000-square-foot (21,370-square-meter) facility to apply customer liveries, or paint jobs, to 787 Dreamliners, expected to open in 2016.

Boeing has seen results from its purposeful reduction of the environmental impact of operations and facilities. Among the measures: greenhouse gas emissions and zero-waste-to-landfill sites in the United States.

12 successful space launches in 2015 by our United Launch Alliance joint venture, extending the streak to more than 100 launches.

In December 2016 Boeing will nearly triple its footprint near Charleston International Airport with a new 360, 208 square foot facility to apply customer liveries, or paint jobs, to 787 Dreamliners.